


Once Upon A December

by Sparrow (hersilentlanguage)



Series: Four Hearts as One(shots) [2]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies), The Isle of the Lost Series - Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: Beach House, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotions, Evie's POV, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Humor, Jay's POV, Jayvie-centric, Multi, Oneshot, college!AU (implied), it hurts but then it's soft, prompt: jayvie + holiday traditions, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:53:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26573269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hersilentlanguage/pseuds/Sparrow
Summary: The coast was beautiful at any hour, but early morning in Seaside was its own sort of magic.Standing there with a weight in her chest, Evie knew she shouldn’t be ungrateful, shouldn’t feel so miserable about the fact that her feet were bare and dug into the cool grey sand, that the waves were lapping gently at her ankles, and her favourite summer dress was being tugged out by the tide.It was the first week of December.She shouldn’t be wearing her summer dress.Evie sighed as she stepped deeper into the water, pushing easily against the sea-foam that bubbled up around her knees. She couldn’t help but imagine herself in a pair of boots, knee-deep in snow at the edge of a family estate. She couldn’t help but want to see the sun as the warm orange glow of windows, further lit up by a hundred—no, athousand—twinkling lights in every colour,so beautiful.
Relationships: Evie/Jay (Disney), Evie/Jay/Mal/Carlos de Vil (minor), Mal/Carlos de Vil (Minor)
Series: Four Hearts as One(shots) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1929922
Comments: 8
Kudos: 37





	Once Upon A December

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt from @inertiazz (Tumblr):** _"jayvie (maybe some background marlos?) + holiday traditions. I don’t even care what holiday or what traditions just go wild dude"_ I woke up with an idea for this prompt today, banged out 2.6K, and here we are! I'm really, _really_ happy with how this turned out. It's my first time writing a Jayvie-centric piece, so I wasn't sure how this was gonna go, but I had so much fun with this piece! I hope you all enjoy it. There's some Marlos at the end, as a treat! ;)
> 
>  **CW (may constitute spoilers):** Christmas-related angst, implied/referenced child abuse/neglect (minor), implication of imposed eating disorder (minor and not explicitly stated as an ED), descriptions of/interactions with water that _might_ bother hydrophobic readers (mostly at the beginning), and use of water gun (end).

The coast was beautiful at any hour, but early morning in Seaside was its own sort of magic.

Standing there with a weight in her chest, Evie knew she shouldn’t be ungrateful, shouldn’t feel so miserable about the fact that her feet were bare and dug into the cool grey sand, that the waves were lapping gently at her ankles, and her favourite summer dress was being tugged out by the tide.

It was the first week of December.

She shouldn’t be wearing her summer dress.

Evie sighed as she stepped deeper into the water, pushing easily against the sea-foam that bubbled up around her knees. She couldn’t help but imagine herself in a pair of boots, knee-deep in snow at the edge of a family estate. She couldn’t help but want to see the sun as the warm orange glow of windows, further lit up by a hundred—no, a _thousand_ —twinkling lights in every colour, _so beautiful._

She smiled to herself as she thought what it must be like to see your parents in the doorway, calling you to hurry, to come inside before you “caught cold.” _Come on, come inside, come home._ _~~You have one.~~_

_You have a home with aunts and uncles, even cousins twice removed, and the cat you grew up with—the cat who pretends not to like you anymore because you left for college, but it’s Christmas, so maybe—maybe you can bribe them—and a kitchen… a kitchen full of smoke and laughter because grandma burnt the turkey—_

_~~You have none of that.~~ _

_You have partners—you have love more than most—you have people to introduce them to, to celebrate your love, you have… you have a fairy tale, but it’s someone else’s. You were born into this story as the wolf pup._

“Shut up,” Evie whispered to no one, squeezing her eyes shut against the threat of tears, trying to smother the voice with the weight of darkness. She stayed like that for a minute, at least, breathing hard enough that the salt air stung her nose and made her dizzy with the want to swim, to dive and disappear into the blue world where a girl like her could be just invisible— _not a villain; never queen._

That’s when the smell of fresh-brewed coffee joined the mix of salt and fish and kelp and seal musk.

Evie turned to see Jay stepping down from the porch and onto the beach, wearing only his boxers and a silk robe she had made for him last year. His hair was loose and wild from bed, hanging down around his shoulders, gently stirred by the breeze. He was smiling like a light as he came across the sand to meet her, and she tried hard to be discreet as she wiped her eyes and returned his smile.

“Morning, beautiful,” Jay called from a little distance away, at the edge of the surf. “Want some?” he asked, raising the mug he’d brought so that the trailing steam caught the glow of morning light.

Evie nodded in response, stepping forward with her dress pinched in both hands, the fabric heavy and dripping as she moved to meet him; when she let it fall, the cotton slapped against her calves and stuck there. She made a face as she glanced down, lifting a leg and wriggling it around as Jay chuckled warmly at her fussing. “Don’t make fun,” she warned, her pout somehow threatening.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he replied with a wink, holding the warm mug out for her to take.

Evie gave him a teasingly skeptical look as she reached for the coffee with more eagerness than was befitting good etiquette. (Her mother had warned her never to look like a “starving orphan,” not even on the days when an orphan was the only thing she _wasn’t_ in her mother’s household _._ )

“Thank you,” she said demurely, lowering her eyes as she took the mug, feeling the sting of its heat and the warmth of Jay’s hands against the ice of her fingertips. She hadn’t realized how cold she was, despite the sun, until that moment. “You’re up early,” she remarked against the rim of the mug, her eyes on Jay as she took the first sip. He was watching her, too, but made no attempt to reply—

Evie lowered the mug, studying the down-turned corners of his smile and the worry in his eyes.

“Yeah,” he said suddenly, reaching to touch her shoulder. “I heard you go out.”

Evie paused. “Oh,” was all she said for a long moment; then— “Did I wake you up?”

Jay shook his head, his smile more genuine as he assured her, “Mal’s elbow did that.” He rolled his eyes affectionately, both of them laughing a little. “I’ll get her back for it later…” He flashed a grin.

“Play nice,” Evie chided, her eyes sparkling with amusement as she took another sip of the coffee.

Jay replied with a non-committal hum, his gaze wandering out across the blue expanse of sea and sky that seemed to blend with Evie’s hair as she stood against the scene. Not a cloud in sight—the only specks of white, a flock of seagulls in the distance. He glanced back at her, expression neutral.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked quietly, letting his hand trail down from her shoulder.

Evie blinked at him, her eyes wide and dark and innocent and _not about to fool him, no, no—_

Jay stepped closer, raised his hand to cup her cheek, and brushed the dewy salt crust from beneath her eye with a gentle smile. That touch alone was enough to make her eyes brighten with new tears.

“Sorry,” he whispered, smile faltering as he began to draw his hand back. She shook her head with vigour, though, and something about her gaze, slick and hard like wet stone, held him pinned there.

“It’s okay,” Evie said, at last, her voice as soft as the ebbing waves at their feet.

Jay didn’t think that was true, but he kept that to himself. He spoke with his body as he pushed the mug down with one hand, cupped the back of her head with the other, and leaned in to where their foreheads were touching. She closed her eyes and breathed a soft sigh as he shifted to kiss the tip of her nose, then drew back a step, fingers trailing through to the ends of her long hair, blue-as-ocean.

“Are you… happy here?” asked Evie, opening her eyes to look at Jay, see his answer was honest—

He tilted his head at her, brows knit in consideration; then, after a pause, he said only, “Are _you?”_

Evie nearly flinched, caught off guard by the question. He watched carefully—watched her lips part to lie to him before she closed them tight and shook her head. “Not really…” she admitted in a soft, strained voice, the sound of it like someone was choking her. “I’m _trying_ to be,” she added with a forced smile. (Jay nodded, laying a hand on her shoulder and squeezing lightly.) “It’s just…”

“Just what, love?”

She breathed in deeply, her eyes fluttering shut as she answered, “It kind of feels like... we’re _hiding.”_

Jay was quiet, and when Evie looked at him again, he’d turned his head away, eyes wandering the dunes to their left—just as empty as the ones to their right. The little beach house at Jay’s back was a world of its own, and there was beauty in that as much as there was loneliness. _Were they hiding…? From what? (Don’t ask what you know—just admit it; you might want to deny it, but deep down, you know.)_

 _There’s so many pressures to give and to be and to smile and to have, and it’s so much sometimes when you can’t and you aren’t and you won’t and you wish, but—maybe they could change that—maybe together—_

“Do you want to go home?”

Evie’s hesitance was telling, she knew; still, she couldn’t just think of her _own_ desire. “Mal—”

“—has been bitching about the sun since we got here,” Jay said drily, though he quirked a smile.

(And that was true. Evie knew it was.) “But Carlos, he—”

“—would sell both his kidneys for a WiFi connection,” Jay said, chuckling. He placed his hands over hers, glad to feel how the coffee had thawed out the ice in her bones. “Look, it was nice and all for the Charmings to let us stay here, but…” He leaned in, taking on a low, conspiratorial tone: “I don’t think it’s coincidence that Ben just approved the empty house tax. Place was pretty fucking dusty.”

Evie nodded, frowning a little as she thought back on the way Carlos had immediately dropped his luggage and started to clean, top to bottom, when they first got in the door. They had all pitched in, but he hadn’t wanted to stop. She’d had to practically wrestle him for the broom, and then get Jay to half-drag him out the door to get his mind on something else. He’d come back smiling with a load of interesting shells and rocks, the ones with holes collected _specifically_ for her designs, he’d explained.

There were moments like that the last few days when she thought they could last the month here.

They would settle in and just enjoy the quiet, away from things they couldn’t afford and people who would only smile at them for a month because, well, it was “the season to forgive,” and—

“Evie?” Jay murmured, brushing her cheek to stir her gently from her thoughts.

She lifted her gaze to meet his. “I think…” She took a breath. “I think I want to go home, Jay.”

He nodded and smiled at her, leaning in to press a kiss to her forehead, still smiling as he withdrew. “Then, we’ll go,” he promised, resting his hands on her waist. “Mal and Carlos should be up soon.”

Evie looked at him for a long moment, not saying anything by way of response; then, she shifted to wrap her arms around him, careful not to spill her coffee down his back. She buried her face in his shoulder and breathed in the scent of his hair, then exhaled with a sigh, “If they don’t want to—”

“You know they will,” Jay replied, nuzzling the side of his face against the crown of her head.

They fell into silence for a moment, neither wanting to move from that position. Jay started to rock them from side to side, slowly at first, then with a little more vigour. Evie giggled softly, trying to push away as what remained of her coffee began to slosh dangerously up to the sides of the mug.

 _“Jay,”_ she warned, giggling all the more in spite of herself as he began to hum a terrible rendition of at least three Christmas songs mashed together, squeezing her tight enough to lift her off her feet.

“We should steal a tree,” he said suddenly, a spark of devious excitement in his voice that made her roll her eyes, because _oh boy,_ she knew a bad idea when she heard one. “They’re free in the forest,” he told her cheerfully, splashing through the surf as he spun them around, “so it’s not _really_ stealing…”

Evie huffed a laugh. “Crown land,” she reminded him, “and besides, how would you cut it down?”

“Ben’s our friend,” Jay replied, setting Evie back down on her feet after several spins left them both a little dizzy. He held fast to her hips as he swayed a bit from left to right. “We just need an axe or…”

There was a commotion from inside the house—a sound like thunder rolling down the stairwell—

“A dragon?” Jay suggested with a cheeky grin, his brown eyes sparkling as Evie shook her head.

“No,” she told him flatly, dumping the rest of her coffee out into the sand with a raised eyebrow.

Jay was halfway to a pout when the door to the beach house slammed open, startling them both. He started to frown at seeing Carlos’ panicked face, the way he scrambled out onto the porch in just his boxers and a t-shirt, eyes scanning all around before they fixed on the water, and he flew down the stairs like a bat out of hell; then, Jay saw Mal appear at the threshold, pausing as if to pose with her water gun—quadruple-barrelled, brightly coloured, and almost half as long as she was high—

“YEAH, YOU BETTER RUN, DE VIL!” she screeched as she aimed the water gun to shoot at Carlos.

He dodged with ease, zigging left, then zagging right towards Jay and Evie. “M-morning!” he called breathlessly as he breezed past them in a fit of laughter, diving right into the water as Mal continued to yell from the porch, waving the water gun around with obvious trouble.

(The thing was unwieldy, even for Jay. He’d filled it up the night before to try and deal with a family of otters that had gotten into the trash. Not his best idea, since they’d seemed to enjoy the “shower.”)

“Hey…” Jay said quietly, noticing Evie’s smile was only half-formed as she watched the scene. He smiled at her as she met his eyes. “They can burn that energy at home, too.” He laid a hand on her arm and rubbed at it gently as he added, “We’re _done_ settling. I’m gonna steal Chad’s axe—” (Evie laughed softly, glancing down at the mug that was dangling from her hands.) “—and we’re gonna stop on the way back, and I’m gonna chop down any tree you want, okay? We’re gonna have—”

Jay cut off with a yelp of surprise as a heavy stream of water hit his back, making Evie squeal as the spray got in her face. They both looked to see a slightly sheepish Mal a few feet away (and quickly backing up), her eyes darting between them as she mumbled, “Um… was aiming for Carlos…”

Jay exchanged a glance with Evie, who subtly nodded.

(Not so subtle that Mal could have missed it, though.)

She dropped the water gun and sprinted back toward the house as quick as she could go, screaming about the “no water guns inside the house” rule as though it were newly a thing to be held sacred.

Evie shook her head as she watched Mal disappear through the open door, Jay hot on her heels with the water gun in tow. She smiled to herself as she turned back toward the water in time to see Carlos resurface. He’d gone a little ways out and had brought up a rather large shell. He held it up to his face for inspection, and Evie couldn’t help but laugh as she watched a claw emerge to pinch his nose.

Carlos yelped and flung the shell away from him without a second thought, only belatedly calling out an apology to the creature inside. He seemed to catch the sound of Evie’s laughter on the breeze, then, because he turned and waved for her to come and join him before he disappeared back under.

 _Oh, why not?_ thought Evie, glancing down at her summer dress, not yet dried by the sun. She bent to set her mug down in the sand and waded back into the water, lifting the ends of her dress, and then pulling it off and over her head completely to leave behind on the beach.

_It was out of season, anyway._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos and comments are always appreciated, but no pressure. <3
> 
> Find me on Tumblr for lots more Descendants content: [@hersilentlanguage](http://hersilentlanguage.tumblr.com).


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